Body found weeks after Fulton County fire has been identified

Authorities have released the identity of the body found among fire debris inside the old Farmington High School in Fulton County. The building caught fire in mid-May 2014.

According to a report by WGIL, police officially identified the body as that of Emmanuel Cervantes from Indiana.

The three-story building Cervantes was found in had caught fire in early in the morning Thursday, May 15, and about a dozen fire departments were on scene battling the blaze that was reportedly more than 20 feet through the roof.

The Farmington Police Department said that on Thursday, May 29 at about 4 p.m. the building’s owner contacted the Farmington Fire Department after smelling a “foul odor” coming from the third floor hallway area.

“While checking the third floor area, debris was removed where the odor was coming from. Personnel discovered what appeared to be the remains of a human body,” said a spokesperson from the Farmington Police Department.

WGIL reported that Farmington Police Chief Carl Powell said preliminary autopsy results show that Cervantes dies from smoke and soot inhalation. There was no evidence to suggest he suffered any kind of wound.

Police said they do not know how Cervantes ended up in that building. He had last been seen walking away from the Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe on May 14.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

If you have any information you are asked to call the Fulton County Crime Stoppers Hotline at 309-547-3939, or the Illinois Fire Marshal’s Hotline at 1-800-252-2947.